From Afar
by Maximumus
Summary: All I'd ever done was admire her from afar. My stomach flutters when she looks at me. She has such big, brown eyes. I admired her so much that I could hardly speak. The way she treated her Pokemon like trusted partners and friends. And dem legs...


_Crap, just looked at the story beneath mine and realized that our explanations were shockingly similar. I didn't plagiarize, I swear. I mean, his is ChilixErika and I'm ChilixWhite. Thanks for understanding!_

I'm not sure why, really, but my eyes would follow her whenever she came to our sleepy little town. Which wasn't often, admittedly, but when she did come she was usually at the Dreamyard. Hunting for Munnas and Musharnas and the like. Afterwards, I'd invite her to the Gym's restaurant. Cress and Cilan would make sure that I was the one to wait on her, and in the end I'd graciously accept a tip, but pick up her bill.

That's the closest I've ever been to her. Waiting on her table. And as she chose Snivy for her first Pokemon, I battled her once. Snivy beat my Pansear so easily, like batting aside a mosquito. I was in utter shock; I was so sure I would win against this average teen girl with a too-poufy ponytail and a pair of too-short shorts with ridiculous flares.

And yet after that, my eyes were glued to her. How could I help but pay attention, with the way she'd swept me off my feet? I-I'm referring to battling here specifically, of course.

Sure, she looked like some sort of sorority girl, but… there was that spark in her eyes. The kind of thrill than runs from the tip of her ponytail to the ends of her sneaker covered toes as she clicks the button of a Pokéball. And she works together marvelously with her Pokemon. Or "Allows their harmony to blend in explosive flavors, mingling in tasteful and shocking hues of black and white", as Cilan would say.

…Cress shouted at me this morning. "Chili!" he'd exclaimed, surprised and angry as I carelessly dropped a pot and sloshed boiling hot water all over his shoes. "You're so thoughtless!" I knew he was mad 'cause Cress never yells.

I had just stared. When did that happen? I hadn't even noticed the customer's Lillipup scamper across my path and trip me.

"Where are you today?" Cilan laughed, rapping my skull with his knuckles. "Pay attention, bro." I had winced and promised I'd be better, mopping up the steamy water from our floor. But truth is, I have been making mistakes like that frequently.

While lost in thought, I realize somebody is talking to me. "Chili? Were you listening?"

I sigh, tucking my pen behind my ear. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Could you repeat that?" The customer sighs and rattles off her order once more. I jolt suddenly, and have to remember not to facepalm in front of the customer. "I wasn't writing that down; could I bother you just once more to-"

Cilan shoulders in, shooting me an irritable look. "Ugh, Chili, just allow me! I don't know what's gotten into you lately!" I flinch. He's right, of course.

After lunch hour rush has slowed down a little, I collapse in a booth, letting out a long breath and intending to catch a quick mo' of shut-eye. Then I hear a subtle _harrumph._

I crack one eye open. Cilan and Cress are standing over me, eyebrows cocked, arms crossed.

"Wassup?" I ask guardedly.

They each grab an arm and haul me upright.

"Something is up with you lately, brother," Cress says, blue dreads jiggling. It's funny how the three of us are brothers, with identical clothing, interests, and occupation, and yet we really look nothing alike. Cress with his dreads, Cilan with his handsome green slick, me with my fiery red 'do.

"Your head is swimming with the sweet aroma of spices, shouting with refined tones of flavor, depth, and taste, filling your mind with-"

"CILAN!" Cress and I both exclaim.

"-brown-ponytailed teenage girls," my green haired brother finishes pointedly. Immediately, my cheeks flush with embarrassed anger. Wouldn't they leave me alone in this? It was my life, and I was only detachedly interested in her. Why did they have to go assuming…

Touching my forehead, I shake my head. "Come on, guys. So my head's been up in the clouds lately. Can you lay off?" Up in the clouds? More like out on Mars.

Before they can say anything else, the door opens at the front of our restaurant/Gym. Three heads automatically turn to look. And there she was, walking inside. One hand tucked beneath her Bag's strap. Her ponytail as voluminous as ever.

I'm up instantly, of course, shouldering in between my brothers and whipping out the notepad from my apron pouch and pen from my ear.

"Table or booth, ma'am?" I ask, adjusting my red bow tie, all efficiency and customer service.

And she's pretty cool, sorority girl thing aside. But she's not the kind of girl I would usually look at, or even consider, you know? I'm not one for the short-shorts big-boob type. Of course, unlike the flirty girls who chow at our restaurant- and I will admit that despite not being 'interested,' us three relish their attention- she is a Trainer. I suppose that's one thing going for her.

And my brothers like her well enough. That's another good thing about her. Usually, Cress and Cilan won't 'approve' of anyone for me. Because of _course,_ whenever I want to date a girl I have to run her through my _brothers_ first. They're kind of protective. Kind of? I'm kidding myself, really. But I'll admit I'm a hypocrite; there was that one time Cilan met this girl, a stunning beauty with tons of spark. But compared to my girl, she was like an Illuminise standing beside an Ampharos.

'My girl?' What am I thinking? She's a customer, that's all. It's not like we'd ever even eaten together. I was her waiter! All I'd ever done was admire her from afar. My stomach flutters when she looks at me. She has such big, brown eyes. I admired her so much that I could hardly speak. The way she treated her Pokemon like trusted partners and friends. And dem legs…

Just seeing her mouth move, those perfect lips shaping words and letting out sound makes Magbys dance a jig in my stomach. The words actually coming out are enough to make me give serious thought to whether I have Volcaronas inside me.

"Actually, Chili, I came to see if you were free."

_Chili,_ I told myself that night, _this bench with always henceforth bring back fond memories._

We're sprawled on an innocent bench near where Striaton joins Route 2. Catching up. Which is funny, since we have nothing to catch up about at all. The only words we've shared are "Refill?" and "May I have my check?" I don't know much about her. The only things I've gleaned from her personality are from how I've seen her treat her Pokemon. And believe me, if she treats guys like Pokemon, I would count myself lucky to be her boyfriend.

Which I tell her. Impulsively. I don't know how it happened. It was something like… we were discussing the ups and downs of letting the Breeders raise your Pokemon. Then she mentions how her Snivy- Serperior now, when did that happen?- was a father now.

"Sear!" eeks my Pansear when we mention Pokemon breeding, so we change the subject. Sort of.

"I'd be lucky to date a girl like you," I say out loud.

_Why did I just do that? Oh my Arceus, she's gonna think I'm a freak… she thinks I'm a freak… I'm such an idiot. Now I'm going to have to explain and I'll look like a stalker! So any hopes of- of actually dating a girl Cilan and Cress approve of is out the window just totally disappeared._

She snorts, then throws back her head and laughs. And she wrinkles her nose guiltily- I shiver, she's so cute- and explains, "Your face is as red as your hair!"

I'm so surprised that I laugh too. Somewhere during our laughter, two things happen: the streetlamps flare up with Litwicks. And, oh yeah, I take her hand, and she doesn't sic Serperior on me.

Holding hands is everything I've dreamed of. So sweet and innocent, and more satisfying than my best brew of hot chocolate with all the fixings. And no, I won't deny having dreamed of it. I'm not even worrying about sweaty palms, and I'm the fire type Gym Leader. Oh, controversy. While the streetlamps shed puddles of light on the sidewalk, the skyline darkens to purple black. We see the twinkling stars.

"You know what?" she asks me. I shake my head. "I've traveled a lot of cities. Whenever the streetlamps come on, I think of you." Her cheeks color pink, and she clarifies, "Fire gym, and all." I'm touched, if not slightly disappointed. Noticing, she cracks a joke. "So, of course I affiliate you with close calls on the Pokemon Center's curfew," she deadpans. We just smile for a second, looking into each other's eyes. And before I know what's happened, she's taken a fistful of red hair and leaned in to brush a kiss across my lips.

I'm shocked by the static, the heat, and intensity that pounds in my head. My face is flushing as I'm enraptured, entranced, intertwined in the fact that I'm actually getting to kiss White. Just the feeling of her lips- it's not a deep kiss, and we're not Frenching, but just the friction, the tiny creases in her mouth catching on mine as she draws back far too soon-

"I don't know anything about you," I say out loud as we lean away from each other. I'm so dizzy, I'm sure that I my words stumbled a few times, though I'm not sure as to where.

"Chili, six of my PC Boxes are crammed with Munna and Musharna from all those times I visit Striaton with 'catching Dream Mist Pokemon' as my excuse. I just wanted to see you." And somehow that seems just like something she would do.

"I've admired you from afar for as long as I can remember," I confess to her, tentatively moving a little closer. My heart wrenches. Will she think I'm weird? "Cress and Cilan call me a stalker. I mean- I know it's weird... and I'm just a Gym Leader, and your waiter. And- and I know you had something with N-" She flinches, and I curse myself. Why would I bring up a man she'd been in love with before she realized he was _evil?_ "Except that one Gym battle, we haven't even really interacted… but… then, tonight…"

She doesn't allow me to finish. She brushes her fingers across my cheek, and I catch them and kiss them. I can feel pleasure radiating off her. Both of our pleasure. For being here together. Finally.

I let her hand drop, and, in the cool nighttime of Striaton, we just slouch there on the bench, each supporting the other equally. "Chili," she tells me, letting me steal a kiss in between. "Hasn't it ever occurred to you that I've been admiring you too?"


End file.
